Dare County Radio Control Flyers

Club members Grant Dick, Jim Davis, Matthew Huggins, and Robert Yanacek met at the Jolly Roger restaurant in Kill Devil Hills for breakfast to discuss radio control airplanes and the upcoming storage shed building project that will begin shortly at our flying field in Manns Harbor.

Robert Yanacek and Steve Smith met today to check out the conditions of our flying field and to expand our parking area on the western perimeter. Stephen Yanacek had mowed the field this past Thursday, completing our 2021 mowing schedule, and we wanted to access whether addition mowing would be needed.

The field looked great and we both felt that addition mowing this year would not be necessary. Armed with a chain saw, Steve cut into the underbrush and expanded about 50-feet our parking area eight to ten feet west of its current extent. Although additional cutting will be necessary to extend this new area to the south, we decided to fly as our time today was limited. Steve flew his electric-powered two-meter glider. Steve's flight was pretty routine as the low wind velocity did not offer additional challenges. His good landing was the perfect ending to our efforts at the field.

Following our departure from the field, Grant Dick stopped by in the early afternoon to do some ground testing with his newly completed Stinger 120—complete with Wonder Woman pilot!

Primary efforts at the field today involved replacing our lawnmower's starter and cutting the grass. Once that was completed at least five of our club members took the opportunity of nice weather to come to the field and fly.

With nearly perfect flying conditions, eight members of Dare County Radio Control Flyers met at our flying field and hosted 29 local residents who visited to learn more about radio control model aviation.

The event, entitled "Flying for Good," encouraged each attendee to bring one non-perishable food item to be donated to our local food bank, and in return, everyone was afforded an opportunity to pilot a radio control aircraft.

Our event was not only well-attended, it was a great success as eight shopping bags of food were collected, and many visitors successfully piloted a radio control airplane under the supervision of flight instructors Jim Davis and Steve Smith. All those flying for the first time today performed very well according to Jim and Steve, and despite any concerns our first time flyers may have had, all aircraft were recovered intact and undamaged. Our guests were also able to interact will all of our club's pilots, receive answers to any questions they had, and offered a free copy of the Academy of Model Aeronautics' Model Aviation magazine.

This event was such a good time for everyone who participated, our club is considering making this an annual charity event.

Seven of our club members met today at Dare County Regional Airport to celebrate and participate in National Aviation Day festivities being hosted by the First Flight Society. The event was well attended by the public, and our members used this as an opportunity to educate the public on radio control model aviation, the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA), and our club and its activities.

Our club's display consisted of twelve model aircraft of various sizes and configurations as well as information that was handed out about the AMA, copies of the AMA's Model Aviation magazine, and paper and balsa gliders to our younger visitors. Two of our club members also permitted visitors with a hands-on opportunity to utilize a radio control transmitter to demonstrate and explain how it is used to control roll, pitch, and yaw on our aircraft.

While at the event our members also had the opportunity to see and walk around a number of full size aircraft that flew in for the day's event including a TBM-1C Avenger torpedo bomber, an FG-1D Corsair, an AT-802F Air Tractor, and Dare County's EMS helicopter.

We extend a special thanks to Mike Fonseca, president of the First Flight Society for inviting us to participate in this event, and to Jay Marsh, AMA vice-president of District IV for the promotional items he provided to assist us.

Today we celebrated National Model Aviation Day when seven club members met at our field for a fun day of flying and a cookout consisting of hot dogs, bratwurst, chips, and soda. We were also joined by three guests who had learned of our celebration through our social media efforts: Michelle Wright; Kyle Denham, and; John Stanton.

Allen Massey got flight operations started with a flight of his E-flite Extra 300 which included a variety of aerobatic maneuvers and concluded in a perfect landing. Jeff Pittman followed with his UMX Turbo Timber, which performed very well in the 7 mile per hour winds. Stephen Yanacek then flew his AeroScout S, followed by Jim Davis with his electric-powered plane.

It was then time for our highlight of the day—getting one of our guests into the air for the first time. Following a brief period of instruction by Jim Davis, Kyle Denham flew Robert Yanacek's E-flite Valiant under Jim's watchful supervision. Kyle, although a bit apprehensive at first about actually flying, performed very well in the air and was encouraged to keep in touch with us should he desire to pursue radio control model aviation. Other highlights of the day included Jeff Pittman's maiden flight of his E-flight Air Tractor which went very well, and Jim Davis' flights of his nitro-powered "Black Bullet."

Many additional flights were performed throughout the day, with Grant Peacock utilizing his talent to video record many of them. At the end of the day everyone headed home with their aircraft undamaged and looking forward to getting together next Thursday to celebrate National Aviation Day at the Dare County Regional Airport in Manteo.